Jack of Hearts
by Objessions
Summary: Multi-chapter Tag to Episode 7 Duct Tape and Jack. Another fun episode I just want to play with.
1. Chapter 1

Jack of Hearts

 _A/N – Tag to Episode 7 Duct Tape & Jack. This one was so much fun I had to tag it. The title is a nod to the original Jack, since there was a whole episode about him in the OG called something like this. And we know our Jack likes cards, and puns, … And I have no self-control. Probably be a few chapters worth of me being self-indulgent. Still own nothing but a mighty need to write._

As Mac stood looking at Jack, his face said everything it needed to, and nothing that he wanted it to as they prepared for the jump, somewhat on the fly and knowing they were not over anything resembling a good drop zone.

Jack raised his eyebrows. "You sure?"

Mac closed his eyes for a second and nodded.

"And you really have a plan."

"Yes, Jack. I have a …" The noise from the barricaded door of the cockpit started to get louder. "Now, Jack."

"You don't get to get mad at me later because you told me to …"

"Just do it, Jack."

"Alright," Jack said, putting his hand in the middle of Mac's chest and giving him a shove. It was not the first time they'd gone out of an aircraft that way. And it wasn't that Mac couldn't jump. Just, it was bad enough that they had to go out that way at all. Getting pushed was easier. Jack followed after his three-count.

Fortunately, they were good chutes, and this was old hat to Jack. Steering a little was no big deal. And they landed together, managing, somehow, to not get too torn up as they passed through the canopy.

They just swung on the ends of their lines for almost a full minute. Mac was pale and clutching the straps of the chute with his eyes closed, chest heaving. Then he forced his eyes open, looking directly at Jack's face. "You okay, partner?" came out sounding a little shaky, but considering what they'd just done, he thought he sounded pretty good.

Jack gave a small smile. "I'm great, bud. But …" He pointed up at where the chutes were caught in the branches rather than indicating the ground.

Mac looked up, and then, almost like a reflex, looked down. The branches they were on all jerked at Mac's involuntary reaction to calculating how high off the ground he was. "Shit!"

"Yeah, bud, that about covers it. And the real pisser is that I'm betting those guys have let their buddies on the ground known we were headed their way."

Mac swore again and started, what looked to Jack, like a slightly frantic attempt to figure out how to get them down, as much because he wanted back on terra firm as to evade the bad guys. As he often did, Jacks started a stream of chatter meant to distract Mac from his fear of heights, which Jack thought probably felt like a belly full of pop rocks and a brain full of meal worms.

When Mac started arguing about _Star Wars_ , Jack knew he'd been successful. That was always a good gauge of how helpful they were being in distracting each other. They'd once had a ten-minute argument over which superhero in the DC universe was the most overpowered while a half-qualified nursing student (who was really their best option) dug a bullet out of Jack's shoulder in the middle of a veterinary clinic during a hurricane.

When the Bosnian drug runners back up team showed up with a chainsaw, neither one of them was doing too hot at keeping up their end of the banter. By the time they got to the ground, fought their way past the second wave of bad guys, and got to the exfil helicopter Matty had rerouted to pick them up, Jack thought Mac had probably forgotten all about their _Star Wars_ discussion.

But knowing how much his partner liked having the last word in even good-natured arguments, he wasn't altogether surprised when on the flight home, as he was dozing off he heard Mac snicker. "What's so funny?" Jack asked, cracking an eye open to see Mac slip his phone back into his jacket pocket.

"Nothing," Mac replied, shaking his head, but grinning. He was tired, and dirty, and he'd had a hell of a bad day. He'd needed another tension breaker, but he didn't want to start up a pointless discussion and keep Jack from catching some sleep.

"Spill," Jack ordered. "If you get to laugh so do I."

Mac snickered again. "You're not gonna think it's funny," he warned. Jack cocked an eyebrow at him. "Okay, but I took a poll, and the rest of the team agrees with me. Ewoks don't eat people."

"Your first babysitter hadn't even been born yet when that movie came out. I saw it in the theater. I think I get to be the _Star Wars_ authority around here, kid."

Mac barked a laugh and then pressed his lips together like he didn't even want to say what he'd thought because he found it so funny in his current exhausted state that he might get started laughing and not stop. "Okay," was all he said, straining not to laugh.

"Just because you're smarter than me don't mean you know more about everything, you know."

Mac couldn't help himself. "Maybe not, but I don't think you should trust your memory, Jack." Jack frowned. "That was 'long long ago', Old Man." He started laughing, finally feeling the tension of the mission starting to bleed off.

Jack gave him a mock dirty look. "Oh, no you _didn't_." That just made Mac laugh more. "Fine. You get to make lame movie references to make fun of me, then I am bringing back my pun game. Stronger than ever. Maybe even some dad jokes, too."

Mac stopped laughed. "Please don't. Whatever twelve step program you've been doing to ditch the puns has been great for everyone in your life."

Jack winked. "Learn from your elders, you will, young Jedi."


	2. Chapter 2

Despite the team's good-natured ribbing, Jack was happy to be home, all in one piece, once again and that his partner was close behind him in the same, more or less, unharmed condition. Things had gotten a little hairy toward the end, and there were a few times Jack was worried the mission was going to really go south instead of just a little off the rails.

And since he and Mac were supposed to (hopefully, fingers crossed, oh, please Matty just one day without a mission) have a couple of days off, Mac wasn't even heading home. He'd grabbed his bags from Phoenix, proposed a Bruce Willis marathon, and said he planned on drinking too much beer after having to jump out of a plane and then swing out of a tree, and run half way across Bosnia, so he hoped Jack didn't mind him crashing there.

Boze and Riley tagging along was more them being convinced that their friends couldn't possibly be as okay as they said they were, but determined to not even ask because they knew what the responses from both guys would be. Riley commented on the number of cop cars in the adjacent parking lot at the bottom of the stairs, but Mac and Jack just shrugged and said, "This is LA, dude," at almost the same moment.

When they got inside, the three shades Jack had paled let them know that the local crime rate had just gotten personal. Everyone thought Jack was holding up okay until he realized they'd stolen his cigar box. Not to mention the burly cop who was suddenly hassling Jack about his weapons collection. Mac was worried Jack was too distracted by his loss to tell a convincing story, but then when his story was pretty smooth, Mac got more worried that his partner was about to knock a cop on his ass.

Everyone could see the 'Jack needs to punch somebody' look he was getting, but Riley knew no matter what, he wouldn't lash out at her, so she stepped between him and the cop, trying to diffuse the situation. But when she pointed out that no one was hurt and what he lost was just stuff, Mac knew this was bigger than that.

Even though he couldn't see his face, Mac recognized a particular tension in his partner's posture. That was Jack biting down hard on an urge to do one of two things; cry or yell. Based on the sound of his voice, it was the former. He couldn't help but wonder what was in the cigar box, and knew it must be deeply personal if he wouldn't say in front of Boze and Riley, because the look he gave Mac was the 'tell you later' expression he usually saved for things the other members of the team wasn't cleared for.

Mac had already made up his mind to just ask Jack to come stay with him and Bozer until his place got cleaned up when his phone chimed, summoning them to Phoenix. So much for a couple days off. Mac was half tempted to just text Matty back and say no for a change, just demand the time off she'd said they could have, but really, he wasn't wired like that. Instead he offered to cover for Jack. The way Jack said his own stuff didn't matter was so uncharacteristic of him, so bitter, Mac knew they needed to talk before very long.

The talk they needed wasn't possible on the way back to Phoenix since they were all riding together, but Jack did let Mac drive without complaint, a sure sign all was not well in his head. When Riley and Bozer got out first, Mac hesitated a second, then he put his hand on Jack's shoulder. "I know it doesn't help Jack, but I really am sorry about … whatever it was you lost. If you …"

Jack interrupted. "I appreciate it, Mac. Let's just do the job. Maybe gettin' my mind off it'll help."

"You got it, buddy."

Jack got out first. Mac sighed. Jack Dalton had circled the globe with him twice, looking for a guy who clearly didn't want to be found. And that was Jack. He didn't care if something was less than rational. If it was important to his friends, it was important to him. Whatever was in that cigar box, Mac would help him get it back. He thought to himself as he opened the door to follow his partner inside, "It's the least I can do."


	3. Chapter 3

Mac had watched Jack's interactions carefully during the mission brief. He felt a little better about where Jack's head was at as he observed his friend slip into his normal banter. He was especially heartened by how Jack interacted with Matty, who seemed to sense something was up, but seemed to know better than to take it too easy on Jack, lest he realize he was visibly not himself. She also wasn't quite as hard on him as she might normally have been. Mac had noticed that had been true since his … time … with Murdoc. He wondered briefly what Jack had been like to be around during all of that, and he realized he was probably better off not knowing.

He also thought it was interesting how Matty had chosen to deploy them on this mission. He and Jack, which was how it had always been and would remain if she wanted to keep them both on at Phoenix, and Riley and Cage, who didn't necessarily seem to have the best chemistry, but who definitely had very compatible skill sets. It made Mac feel, for the first time in a while, that Matty wasn't seeking to shake things up by adding another team member, but rather just increase their strengths.

He was also relieved Oversight hadn't made a big deal about Riley and Bozer disobeying orders and staying in town in Nigeria. Bozer had been getting left at the lab a little more, but it seemed more that Matty was actually taking his skills there seriously rather than that it was any kind of punishment.

Once they got in country and were alone on the drive to meet up with the doctor and Leon's heart, Jack got increasingly quiet. Mac tried a few conversational overtures. First, he tried joking a little about their unscheduled drop in Bosnia.

Nothing like admitting to a little of his own vulnerability to loosen Jack up about his own he thought (and his fear of heights was so well-known, to Jack at least, that it didn't even feel emotionally risky to talk about). But that got him nowhere other than Jack throwing him a sympathetic look, one that was almost sad, and saying, "Ah, hell, Mac, the day I see you let something you're afraid of stop you from gettin' the job done is the day I'll know it's time to get the hell out of this business because if it scares you that bad, it's too dangerous for ole Jack."

Well, that backfired. Mac tried again. "We should take a vacation here sometime, man." Jack just glanced at Mac suspiciously. Vacations were not something Mac suggested unless he was up to something and the last time he'd insisted on a couple of days off, he'd gotten himself kidnapped, tortured, and near blown up.

"I'm serious. There's a river here in Columbia … In the Meta region … It's called the Caño Cristales … And it blooms with these flowering plants once every year and it looks like it's turned into a rainbow. I'd love to hike it … but … It'd probably look pretty cool from the air, too, for the crazier and less hiking inclined."

"That sounds nice," Jack replied, paying next to no attention to what Mac was actually saying.

Finally, Mac decided to be blunt. "So, are you gonna tell me what's in that cigar box, or am I gonna have to guess?"

When Jack told him it was his father's dog tags, Mac was both glad to know so he could try to help, and mildly devastated that he'd pushed and put that look of being an eyelash away from breaking down on Jack's face. And as Jack talked about his dad, Mac felt the familiar almost hollow pain fill his chest.

It deepened as he realized that Jack sharing this with him was a particularly special level of trust, and another subtle revelation that he took his role as parent, not just helicopter parent like they'd been joking, seriously enough that Jack wished his dad was still around to know him as family, too.

Even though Jack and his father had their problems, Jack could look back on his father's life and see a hero, a good man … a good dad.

He wished he had even a piece of that with his own father. Then he realized that the fact that he didn't, made it even more important to help Jack get that back. When he offered, he though Jack really was going to break down, despite the affection-filled smile it got him.

Mac was determined even if they had to circle the globe twice, they'd find those dog tags. And he was going to say so, when they pulled up in front of the hospital and the doctor was outside waiting. In typical Jack style, especially when there was a lot going on his head, he slipped into entertainer mode, and the puns started coming hard and fast.

Mac just shook his head, smirking. "I'm beginning to wish I hadn't cheered you up."

The genuine smile it got out of Jack said he knew Mac didn't mean it.


	4. Chapter 4

As they drove toward the border, Mac noticed that Jack had become uncharacteristically quiet again. He was surprised because the young doctor who had joined them for this mission was clearly nervous, bordering on upset, and Jack was usually the first guy anywhere to jump in to try to make someone feel better. In fact, Jack was usually good at knowing a person needed it, even if they were doing everything they could to hide it.

Once Mac drew out what really motivated Alejandra to help them, he and Jack shared a look. They'd worked with a lot of people temporarily while in the field, and sometimes it didn't totally suck. This was someone who they could understand, relate to, and see as a full member of the team while they were thrown together by circumstance.

She was much more calm than they would have expected when the border was more intense than they might have wished. She even threw them both a half smile when Jack asked Mac to name a time they'd been lucky and she saw their expressions when Mac answered "Madagascar."

There was definitely a story there. She suspected these guys had some really interesting stories, and the ones where they weren't lucky were probably the more interesting. Which was apparently a good thing, since Mac couldn't give Jack a second occasion.

Getting hauled out of the truck and having the whole thing searched didn't do much to bolster Jack's confidence that they were ever going to come close to a lucky mission again and he was getting very close to needing to punch someone again when they took his gun. Of course, they'd slammed him up against the fence and practically wrestled it away from him. But then again, he had said some very unkind things about the guards' mothers, not to mention anything else offensive that he could think of that might piss them off.

Mac was marginally happier than his partner, especially since the guards hadn't decided to just give Jack the beat down he was practically begging for by mouthing off the way he had (like he always did, as though he was determined to see Mac get as many grey hairs as he had worrying about Jack's mouth getting him – or both of them – killed), and he got his Swiss Army knife back. But even though he didn't feel like the stop was the end of the world yet, he didn't feel great about it either.

The only thing keeping Jack from tackling the guy walking away with his current favorite gun was Mac's slightly teasing plea to wait on 'Hulking out'. Jack envied Mac's ability to tamp down his emotions and not fly off the handle. More often than not, Mac had to step in and cool Jack off. The cool calm with which Alejandra was trying to negotiate with the border patrol was instructive, too.

If a civilian could keep her cool in this situation, so could he.

For a minute.

Probably.

Then when they lost the heart to the border guards, Dr. Rosa never missed a beat. The three of them stole the nearest available vehicle under the cover of Mac's improvised tear gas and sped off in pursuit of her country's best hope at an independent future.

0-0-0

Mac wasn't pleased when Matty responded to his call by immediately calling him because his tone had already given away that things were going off the rails. It's not like it happened that often. Okay, it happened kind of a lot, but c'mon, they always figured it out. She didn't need to sound so damned skeptical before he'd even read her in.

He was glad that Jack could joke and accuse Matty of making bad puns too, but all he could do himself was swallow hard and start trying to sort through the available information, because while Matty might think his tone was pretty transparent, her tone had already told him that they were on their own.

Jack had to smile when Mac just explained his decision making to Dr. Rosa a minute later. That summed Mac up perfectly. "Oh, I _wasn't_ sure. We just needed to make a decision, so I made one."

Jack wondered if Mac had always been like that, decisive without any real hesitation. He thought maybe it came from EOD training; whether you cut the wrong wire or time ran out, you were just as dead, so maybe it was better to take the risk.

But somehow, Jack didn't think so. He thought maybe Mac had grown up ready to screw up and hope he could fix it later rather than waste time or opportunity on indecision. Dr. Rosa seemed to appreciate the ability. Medicine was often like that, too.

Of course, a moment later, neither she or Jack thought much of the impulsive side of that decisiveness when, without warning, Mac smashed out the SUV's windshield. And even though it accomplished his objective, they'd followed the wrong truck.

But they knew they couldn't be daunted by momentary failure. They all rushed back to the SUV to get back on the road, hoping Matty was working her satellite magic, as Jack liked to call it, to point them in the right direction.

Fortunately, she was able to get them on the right track pretty easily and inform them that Riley and Cage were in their new location and successfully infiltrating it. Unfortunately, when they caught up to the vehicle they could only stop it by crashing into it. And in addition to some unwelcome bumps and bruises of their own, it was clear very quickly that the heart Leon was depending on might not make it into Quito to save his life.


	5. Chapter 5

It didn't happen often, but Mac realized very quickly as he dig through the contents of the back of the truck that he was out of options. It's not like the situation at the border could have been helped. Probably. And they hadn't had a lot of options to stop this truck either. Jack took the best one he could see; which Mac couldn't even pretend to be upset about. That was what he did all the time.

It was so frustrating to know you had the know-how to fix a situation but not the tools, or more accurately, the materials. Despite already feeling more than a little defeated, and guilty that an entire country was about to pay the price for an op gone sideways, Mac's brain continued to click ahead, trying to come up with something … anything.

When the idea came, he kind of hated it. A lot. But he knew it would work. And if she was a good candidate, the doctor would be on board with it, no question. "Alejandra, what's your blood type?"

"A positive," she answered matter-of-factly, her own sharp mind already almost sure of what he was thinking, and knowing she wasn't going to be able to give him an answer that would help.

He puffed a frustrated sigh. He knew he wasn't a match before he started proposing this, but he felt he needed to say it out loud. It had to be Jack. Oh, man, Jack was not going to be happy. Not even a little. He was going to owe his partner a case of bourbon and maybe a trip back home to Texas to make this up to him, especially with the state of mind he was already in. "Neither of us are compatible, which leaves …"

He turned to face Jack fully. Yeah, Jack already looked the expected combination of irate and scared that Mac had expected. "I have an idea but you're not gonna like it?" he quoted a phrase he was way too used to hearing Mac say before he proposed something dangerous, or unpleasant, or just plain crazy. Jack had the idea already that this was going to be some twisted Venn diagram of all of the above.

Mac had that really determined, this-is-probably-the-only-way-out-of-this-mess, look on his face as he started to explain. Normally, he would have just started working and Jack would have just done whatever he said to work the plan out with him, but Mac knew Jack wasn't going to want to play this round, unless he was clear.

"You're O Negative. Universal donor." He knew Jack was stalling when he pretended like either of them wasn't familiar with the other's medical history. They were both listed as each other's next of kin for heaven's sake. Not that he was going to bring that up in front of someone they didn't know well. He had to smile a little at how downright panic-stricken Jack looked at the moment, but he hoped the smile was at least a little reassuring. "We're gonna use your heart to keep Leon's beating."

Jack's face said that was exactly what he'd been afraid Mac was going to say, but he let his partner lead him over to sit on the back of the truck. Dr. Rosa helped Mac get started by sterilizing everything he was preparing with booze from a case in the back. She took the cloth and the alcohol over to Jack, and glanced at Mac. "Do you want me to do the stick? Then I could …"

"Actually," Mac interrupted, not looking up from what he was doing, other than to cast a sideways glance at Jack, whose dark eyes were very wide. "I need you to see if you can find us some transportation. I can take care of everything here."

She looked skeptical. "Are you sure? You a medic?"

"No, but," Mac gave a small smile. "Army. Or I used to be. Rolled with Jack's Delta unit back in the day. So … I have enough training not to lose him an arm." He paused and grinned at Jack. "Probably," he said is his best lightly teasing voice.

"Ha ha," Jack said with a decent amount of wry humor. He looked like he was back on top of his feelings, for the moment, anyway.

"I'll be back as soon as I can," Alejandra said with a nod, and took off running up the road.

Mac continued working, half-turned away from Jack. "How ya holdin' up, Big Guy?" he asked as soon as the doctor was out of earshot.

"Um … I'm good … Fine … Great even. Glad we can still, you know, get this mission done and …"

"It's okay if you're freaking out, man. That's sort of why I sent the doc on transportation detail."

"I'm not gonna pass out or anything," Jack was almost convincingly indignant.

Mac placed the box containing Leon's heart on Jack's lap. Then he picked up the cloth and the bottle of alcohol. "You ready?"

"Any chance you'll pass me one of those bottles of sauce and I could maybe have a couple first?"

Mac shook his head, wearing a sympathetic smile. "I wish I could, buddy, but, no alcohol."

He reached out and Jack offered up his arm with a sigh. "Sure, sure. It's good enough to go on my arm, but not through my liver. Fine."

"I owe you a case of the good stuff, alright?" Mac's eyes found Jack's as he put down the cloth he'd used to clean Jack's arm.

"Just a case?" Jack managed a short nervous laugh.

Mac swallowed hard. "One for every time I have to poke you with this?"

"Jesus!" Jack spat when he finally got a real look at what Mac was planning on stabbing him with. "That's a big needle!"

"Kinda, yeah. None of this is ideal, Jack."

Jack closed his eyes. "You're working with spare parts to secure the future of an entire nation. It's all good."

Mac knew for absolutely certain that Jack was a far cry from 'all good' but he wasn't about to belabor the point. Instead, Mac just found a vein and penetrated it in one deft maneuver, wincing almost as much as Jack.

"Sorry, pal," he said sincerely, securing everything with duct tape. He probably used more than he needed to, but he was worried it might move and not only screw up his contraption, but necessitate sticking Jack again, and if he didn't have to make his friend miserable more than once, he didn't want to.

"I'm okay, bud," Jack said, his voice a little husky.

Wanting to distract Jack a little, and also wanting him to know just how crazy-assed brave he knew Jack to be, he asked, "You think your dad ever got up to anything this nuts?"

Jack cracked a smile. "Knowing my old man? Probably ... Although, maybe not. He was a weirdly sensible guy."

"Unlike his son, who never met a crazy idea he didn't like," Mac smiled back.

"I dunno, Mac, maybe I'm just a big chicken, but I don't much like this one so far."

"But you're going along with it. I told you before, scared isn't the test. Follow-through is."

"You gonna start quoting the Wizard of Oz at me again?" Jack raised an eyebrow.

"I'll try to control myself," Mac smirked.

They were silent for a minute. Then Jack asked, "What do you mean test?"

Mac didn't look at Jack's face as he answered. "For bravery, man."

He then checked the connection in the crook of Jack's arm and his partner swore and glared at him. "Hey! Be careful!"

Mac apologized again, then he finished hooking up the device, carefully monitoring Jack's appearance and estimating his respiration, along with checking the bpm the box was displaying, just to be sure his solution to one crisis wasn't precipitating another. He didn't like the way his partner looked, even at all, but he thought the distress was more from the inside of Jack's head than anything to do with his body this early in the game. "You're probably going to feel a little … weird."

As the device started doing its thing, Jack determined that was the understatement of the year. "There are times … well, just a few, here and there," Jack said, mostly teasing, but feeling like hell, and having a mighty need to whine a little, "when I wish … well, when I wish I never met you."

Then he managed a chuckle and Mac smiled. How many times had one of them said that to the other over the course of their friendship? Mac had lost count, and he was a guy who could remember the page numbers from his favorite book quotes, episode reference numbers for his favorite TV shows, hell, just about every formula he'd ever been taught.

Mac made sure Jack saw his deep eyeroll, more to assure him that things were normal between them because he had total faith that this was safe than to actually convey annoyance, when Jack said, "Lot of people say I wear my heart on my sleeve, but this is a tad literal."

Then, when Mac helped Jack to his feet, he bumped Jack's arm and could tell his partner was already unsteady on his feet, probably nauseous and dizzy too, but too damned tough to complain about it, even though he looked about on the verge of tears and couldn't quite hide it.

"You'll be alright," he assured Jack, believing it to be entirely true, but needing to say it out loud almost as much as he knew Jack needed to hear it.

They heard what was unmistakably a scooter approaching. Jack squinted at the figure in the distance. "Doc's back. Looks like she found us some wheels."

Mac nodded, already trying to figure out how to make the best of what was in front of them. Jack swayed on his feet and Mac steadied him. "Hey, do you need to sit?"

Jack shook his head. "If my dad ever did do anything this crazy, I bet he wasn't anywhere near this close to just puking because of it."

Mac peered at him with concern. "You feel sick?"

"Nah," Jack shook his head. "I feel like a kid in a cemetery after dark." Mac raised an eyebrow. "Like everything I've decided to do is a bad idea and it's gonna end badly … And … aw, hell, I'm just freaking out a little I guess."

Mac put a hand on his shoulder. "I already told you, Big Guy, it's okay. You already nailed that bravery test."

Jack managed a small smile. "You have an actual test all sorted out in that ginormous brain of yours, dontcha?"

"Call it the Dalton Family Hero Club test. You pass. Every time, Jack."


	6. Chapter 6

Jack was infamous for getting goofy when he was worried and the ride to Quito was no exception. At first, given his own general stress levels, Mac found the puns and word games irritating, but he kept reminding himself that was what anxiety looked like on his partner. Based on the doctor's reaction to it, after a while Mac started to find it funny. He remembered his own responses when Jack had been a new acquaintance rather than an old friend.

By the time they got where they were going Mac was vacillating between the two feelings; wanting to strangle irritating dad-pun Jack for being annoying and wanting to laugh and put his arm around the guy to remind him he was okay, and he was going to stay that way. Or that was what he was telling himself anyway.

Jack looked six shades of not okay at all, and he was starting to not just babble, but to sound slightly less than totally coherent. Then when Jack leaned heavily on his shoulder, Mac was even less confident that his solution to the heart pump wasn't going to have lasting consequences for Jack. And as bad as Leon looked, it might all be for nothing anyway. Even if he could figure out a way to get power back up in the clinic.

Mac started pacing a little, trying to take in what resources he had, which given the nature of the clinic weren't exactly ideal for the situation. Jack being Jack took a step toward him, as though there might be something he could do to help, and nearly fell over. Mac caught him. "Whoa, there, Big Guy. You are already doing the hard part here. I'll take care of the power situation."

Jack nodded and mumbled, "'Kay," but he swayed on his feet.

Mac held him up by both shoulders. "Somebody?" was all he said. Riley was already on the move and came back from the hallway a moment later with a wheelchair. Jack sighed gratefully as Mac helped him lower himself into it.

Mac was pretty sure he had an inkling of, if not what to do, where he could go to work on a solution. And it would get him out of the way here. Then the actual employees from the clinic marched in. An intimidating bunch if ever he saw one, and he was rather used to feeling a little intimidated by people in scrubs.

He was fairly certain that most of the nursing staff at Phoenix only knew how to scowl at him and Jack anyway. But their cooperation was won rather easily and knowing that the doctor had qualified staff to back her up, not to mention to take care of his partner, made focusing on the task at hand a little easier.

In the amount of time it had taken Riley to convince the nurses to help them, to help Leon, Mac had figured out what he was going to do. He started tossing out clipped, efficient orders. Jack grinned to himself. Kid sounded like one of the medical staff. He thought maybe he'd tell him so later. Mac was sure to see it as some sort of backhanded insult and it would be funny.

Mac was pleased with his work, and pleased to have kept his promise to Alejandra; the power was up before she'd even donned her sterile gloves. He noticed pretty quickly that the hands inside those gloves were shaking like she was out in the bitter cold. Her eyes were wide, like an animal caught in the headlights of an eighteen-wheeler at dusk.

Mac looked through the window into the surgical suite. Leon was growing paler by the minute, and Jack looked, well, Mac didn't like being responsible for how Jack looked. They needed a doctor; one who was prepared to do what needed to be done like she had hundreds of times before this moment. So, Mac did what came naturally to him.

He told her the truth.

Mac was pleased she was able to take that moment and get herself under control and ready to work. He'd known she had it in her. She was a cardiac surgeon after all and did the impossible every day. He smiled a little to himself, when he acknowledges that their jobs might look different to an outside observer, but they really weren't that far apart.

Mac eyes followed her into the surgical suite, hoping for the best for her and her patient. Thinking that it was almost fitting for the future of a country to be resting on one man's heart. Them he almost wanted to slap himself. That was such a Jack line. Then Jack lifted his head just a bit and met Mac's eyes with a little smile. Mac forced himself to smile back, past his concern. Come to think of it, sounding like Jack wasn't always a bad thing. Except for those godawful puns.

0-0-0

Seeing Jack back on his feet, looking halfway back to himself was such a relief, and Jack's words were so very close to home, Mac wanted to either sit down and laugh hysterically, or maybe have a nice private cry if he could be sure he wouldn't be interrupted. Since neither of those things was an option, he dropped his own heart-related pun. Met with another, even better one from his partner set Mac laughing and Jack joined him, already letting go of some of the tension that the active part of an op always led to, even when everything went according to plan.

Of course, while their assignment had been completed swimmingly, thanks to Mac's ingenuity and Jack's ticker, the op wasn't exactly a success. Leon would be recovering for weeks and Zarate was still about to take over the country. As far as the people of Ecuador knew, since their information was coming from Zarate's propaganda machine, Leon was presumed dead.

When Riley said she thought she could fix it, Jack had to smile. That was what he thought of almost entirely as Mac's line, Mac's tone even. Mac and Jack caught each other's eye and both grinned. If Ri was using that tone, she'd already solved the problem, or that's where it would lead anyway. It was becoming part of the fabric of their team, part of their language. Even Cage seemed to be catching on. Everyone moved to do whatever Riley needed to make her half-a-plan happen.

Jack wasn't quite sure if it was the blood loss talking or not, but he was more than half convinced that Mac had been flirting a little with Dr. Rosa, and it was so smooth, so natural it made him almost laugh. Mac's history with women was either sit back and let them make the first move and have it end badly, or awkwardly not quite recognize that they weren't just sending signals, but had hired a marching band to advertise their attraction.

Mac on the job was different, confident, cool, comfortable with who he was. And this Mac wasn't really on the job anymore, but the sense that he was comfortable in his own skin and entirely in charge of his own head was sort of radiating from him at the moment. It was the first sign Jack had seen in a long time that maybe the kid was finally getting over Nikki.

He mentioned it on the flight home and Mac just rolled his eyes. "Not everybody has to flirt on a mission, Jack. She's still in a tough spot. She needed to hear there are people who believe in her."

"I'm just sayin' if you were … you know … flirtin' with the smart pretty hero of this particular piece that your taste in women has improved a hell of a lot."

Mac shook his head. "Then clearly you're not as influential a figure in my life as you'd like to think."

Jack paused. "Hey!" he said with mock offense. "I have excellent taste in … Everything!"

"Except you keep falling for women who are ready to kill you." Jack widened his eyes innocently. "Kasakova?"

"Oh, yeah," he grinned.

"Maybe I've been a bigger influence on you," Mac said, giving the spot on his chest where his association with Nikki had gotten him shot. Jack looked mildly horrified and Mac cracked up. "Jack, it's all good. I'm just … kinda over it, ya know?"

"You telling me you're so over Nikki you're ready to joke about what went down?" Jack raised an eyebrow.

Mac shrugged, his face a little more serious. "Maybe I'm just learning … from someone who is, in fact, fairly influential in my life … that sometimes you just have to let go of the not so great things life has thrown at you, and focus on the good stuff."

"And that maybe that stuff isn't actually, you know, stuff," Jack said, looking a little misty again, but smiling fondly.

Mac played with his watch for a moment, then met Jack's eye. "And sometimes it is actually stuff, and it's okay to need that connection, even if it can't tell you anything other than it belonged to someone who was important to you." Mac got up and patted his partner on the shoulder. "I'm gonna go dig up another Gatorade for you, pal. Then maybe you should catch a nap. I kind of put you through the wringer for this one."

"Alright." He didn't want more Gatorade, but Mac was bringing the hovering caregiver routine to a new level. Jack thought maybe it was payback for after the crap with Murdoc where he had followed the kid like a puppy for days. Jack inadvertently glanced at Mac's watch.

Mac squeezed the shoulder where his hand was resting. "We'll get your dad's dog tags back, Jack."

"I dunno, Mac … it's not likely that …"

"We will."

That was a promise. Jack knew the sound of Mac determined never to give up on something when he heard it.


	7. Chapter 7

Jack heard the key hit the lock and he quickly swiped at his eyes. "Hey, bud," he called out without turning. Even if anyone else had the keys, he knew Mac's step too well to wonder who came in.

Mac opened the refrigerator and put in a gallon bottle of orange Gatorade, Jack's usual preference. "Hey, bug guy. Got done with the mission report and went looking for you at Medical … But funny thing, you'd already disappeared, even though Matty was pretty explicit about where you were supposed to be."

Jack half turned as Mac came over and dropped down onto the couch next to his partner. "Yeah, well …" Jack started. "They were real busy, and I was all good so …"

"You told Foster off again, didn't you?" Mac smirked.

"I did not … Okay, maybe slightly; but he had it comin'. Is Matty pissed?"

"Usually," Mac chuckled. "But don't worry. I told her Dr. Rosa already said you were fine, but you were probably too tired and grumpy to put up with protocol here at home and I promised to look out for you. She just gave me that motherly look she's been getting lately so I got while the gettin' was good."

"Probably a good move where Matilda is concerned in general," Jack said absently, fingering the dog tags Bozer had somehow pulled off a Mac level miracle to return.

"Bozer texted me that he found your stuff. I'm really happy for you, Jack."

"Yeah, thanks, bud." "Wish finding what you need was that easy," Jack's voice had gone a little husky again and he was seemingly lost in what was on the TV.

Mac glanced at the screen, which was currently playing Moonlighting and his smile turned a little sad. "C'mon, buddy, let's go get that steak I promised you, since you didn't hang around long enough for the Scrubs Squad to do anything about your blood loss."

Jack shrugged, still warming the tags between his fingers. "I don't know, man. I'm beat. I'm not even really hungry … and I don't wanna go sit in some restaurant and …"

"I'll spring for Zane's. You love the steak there. And they do takeout."

Jack smiled slightly. "Big spender. Alright. I guess I could eat takeout. How long you gonna be gone? I'll find _Last Boy Scout_."

"Uh uh, buddy. I'm not leaving you here all alone, so you can pass out and crack that thick skull of yours. You'll wind up right back where you started, with Foster pissing you off and shining that godawful penlight in your eyes. C'mon."

Jack heaved a sigh, but got up and got his coat and shoes on and followed Mac to his Jeep. After a little while of driving the got caught up at an intersection and it seemed to pull Jack out of his own head. "Um, Mac," he began.

"This isn't the way to Zane's, bud."

"Yeah, I know." Mac paused. Then as traffic started moving again, Mac made the turn that let Jack know exactly where they were headed. "Whenever you watch _Moonlighting_ , it means you want to come talk to your dad."

Jack made a funny little confused face, as Mac took the final turn to the cemetery. "What the hell does _Moonlighting_ have to do with my old man?

Mac chuckled as he pulled into a parking space as close as he could get to where Jack could go have the talk he clearly needed to have.

"What the hell does my loving a classic long running tv series have to do with anything?" he asked again.

Mac's lips twitched in a smile that was at once affectionate and a little sad. "Don't tell me you haven't noticed the resemblance, Jack."

"Resemblance?" Jack frowned.

He really hadn't put it together. Mac shook his head. "That picture of all you kids and your dad … from when you were about fifteen or so … The one your mom keeps in her kitchen?"

"What about it?" Jack asked still frowning.

"That's the only picture I've ever seen of him when he was young. Well, the only picture when he was just dressed for a day fishing with his kids instead of in uniform. And … Jack … he looks an awful lot like …"

Jack's jaw slackened a little. He'd never even … not for a second. "I … I guess I never …"

"And he's always the hero, always gets the bad guys, always shows up in time for the people who need him in all those movies and stuff. I can see …" Mac cleared his throat. "I can see why you want to connect with that when things have gone pear-shaped."

"I guess maybe I see the connection," Jack conceded with a smile. They got out of the car. Mac came around to his side and stood next to him.

The idea of his dad as John McLain was awfully appealing. "You like 'em too, all those movies though, don't pretend you don't."

Mac smiled. "Of course I do. _Die Hard_ got me through that Christmas when I was first with you and the guys and I got myself ..."

"The Purple Target medal?" Jack inquired wryly.

Mac laughed, shaking his head. "You guys thought that was so funny …" He mock glared at his partner, then cracked up again. "Okay it was pretty funny."

He took out his phone, opened his photo gallery, and passed it to Jack. He'd gotten Jack's mom to take a picture of the framed photo in her kitchen and send it to him. Jack took it and looked at it thoughtfully. A smile began curving his mouth.

"You look like him, you know," Mac said quietly. The implication that Jack's resemblance to an action hero they spent a fair amount of time watching, was left unsaid, but Mac didn't mind if the man made a few inferences. "And I'm glad Boze found your stuff … and nothing would have stopped me from looking for it, too Jack, but you were right. You carry all the important stuff around with you."

Jack pulled Mac into a one-armed hug, and like he often had since the Murdoc incident occurred, Mac let it happen. In fact, he put an arm around Jack's back for a moment and hugged back. Then he let him go. "Go talk to your dad, man. I'll get dinner and be back soon."

"Alright. Thanks, man." Jack started down the path toward his father's final resting place. Mac followed to make sure he made it the short distance without any dizziness or other problems.

"You okay here while I go get food?"

"Of course I am," Jack said, sinking down onto the ground and making himself at home.

"Do not go wandering around a quart low; do you hear me?" Jack turned back, and Mac raised an eyebrow and tried to look severe, but the grin kind of ruined it.

"Yes, Mother," Jack grinned back.

He heard Mac's steps fade as he went back to the car to go get them some dinner. He glanced around. There was no one else anywhere near this plot, so it was probably pretty safe to have the chat he'd been thinking about since he'd told Mac about the dog tags back in Columbia.

"Hey, Pops," Jack began. "How ya been?"

Jack started a familiar rambling update on the family since the last time he'd visited. Then after he got into the flow of things, he started talking a little about himself, and finally he unloaded about everything that had happened the last couple of months.

Recounting what had happened first with Riley and her first solo mission, then with Murdoc and Mac, unsurprisingly got the tears going again. Talking to his dad about the kids always felt very natural. Updating Gramps, so to speak. Then he talked about losing the tags and it reminding him that he had all the good stuff he needed without them, and how Bozer was slowly making his way into what Jack considered family. In fact, he thought it might be official after this.

He talked about how damned grateful he was to have a friend like Mac who would have been willing to scour the planet with him to find them, before Bozer had solved the problem for him. He retold the tale of his conversation with Mac about wishing they could have known each other.

"And Pops, I know he says you guys would have had a complicated relationship. Hell, I know how you feel about your radio and the kid definitely would have taken it apart. Maybe just to see the look on your face. Sometimes I swear that why he takes my stuff for his … inventions … contraptions … whatever he wants to call 'em. But I don't think it would have been complicated at all."

Jack paused, taking a slow not quite shuddering breath. "I think you woulda more or less adopted him … Just like I have. And even when it drives him nut, I'm so damned glad to be there for him, like you were for me … But he deserves something like this. I don't mean sittin' in a cemetery talking to a memory, Pops, but knowing his real dad. Knowing how that story ends … Or maybe startin' a new one. And I'm gonna find a way to make it happen. I love the hell out of that kid."

Jack was wiping his face, when Mac sat down on the ground next to him, pretending he hadn't heard the end of that conversation. "Hey Jack." And this time, without being prompted, he added, "Hey, Mr. Dalton. Hope you straightened Jack out for me and that he's ready to go home and have some steak."

Jack patted him on the shoulder. "Sorted me right out, kid." He held Mac's eye for a second. "Thanks, man."

"Thank me after you've tried the steak. Chef T swears it's pure Texas and it smells pretty damned good, but I know how you feel when people claim to have replicated the homeland."

"Help me up, wouldja?"

Mac got to his feet and helped Jack do the same.

"Bye Pops," Jack said over his shoulder as they started back toward the car.

"Bye, Mr. Dalton," Mac said, without any of the teasing he might have previously put into his voice.

When they got back to the car, Jack sighed with something like contentment at the smells coming from the take-out containers. "Mmmmm. That does smell like home."

"Like some place you'd like to be?"

"Yeah. Kinda want to give everybody a big hug and eat too much before much more time passes."

"How about next leave we both go to the ranch? Ri, too if you want … I talked to your mom today and she may or may not have laid out a couple of believable threats if we don't come visit soon. Flights are on me, but room and board are on the lovely and talented Mrs. Dalton."

"You really want to do that?" Jack's question showed his appreciation for what Mac was working to set up, but also an acknowledgement that he knew Mac found the big family gatherings, the boisterousness, the open affection and emotion, of the Dalton clan a little overwhelming.

"Yeah, I do," Mac answered. "I think, after everything the last couple months has held, it'd be good to spend some time with family."

That Mac considered Jack a part of his, and was becoming comfortable with openly saying so, was the only thing other than his dad's dog tags that could have made Jack Dalton feel quite as lucky as he did just then. It was such a good feeling, in fact, Jack bought at lottery ticket on the way home for dinner.

The promised true Texas steak did not disappoint. Nor did the one they had a few weeks later when they managed to get back to Texas for near enough the holiday for it to feel like one. Sitting out by a proper fire, smelling the horse barn and feeling too full of the excellent meal his mother had insisted on preparing, Jack sighed, and stretched his feet toward the flames, "This is the good life."

Mac glanced at his partner and raised his beer in salute, "It's all life until you're dead."

Jack snorted laughter. "Now that is an obscure one. The man himself as Dwayne Hoover in Breakfast of Champions."

"Accurate, too," Mac grinned.

"You can drop a reference like that, I have to wonder if you're a bigger fan than me," Jack teased.

Mac grinned again. "Water is wet, the sky is blue, and old Satan Claus is out there Jack …"

Their soft laughter carried into the night. Jack's mother looked out on them occasionally. She never slept much anymore. She'd often lamented that her son never had a boy of his own. That was not something she thought about anymore. Because she knew Jack didn't think of it like that either.


End file.
